Vettel Remains Focused

Sebastian Vettel continues to chase his first victory of the season at Silverstone. Despite pressing questions from the press, the German Ferrari star remains positive.

Sometimes even a young multimillionaire like Sebastian Vettel (32) is not to be envied. Even if these challenges seem incomprehensible to us pure mortals, Vettel has to face them every week at every race.

Every two weeks he patiently and happily tries to answer the questions from the press and these questions have been the same for weeks … “Why is it that Ferrari has not won this season yet?” “What are the strengths of the car and where are its weaknesses?” “Does he still believe in the championship title?” “Was it right not to have punished Max Verstappen, although his team lost a possible victory?”

Really new are different things, smaller details, if you looked a bit closer. While Vettel wore a wedding ring for the first time in France, in Silverstone he presented himself in a new team shirt – without taped areas.

This had its reason: He wore the wedding ring in Le Castellet because he had recently gotten married. The new shirt was presented in Silverstone because Ferrari was still wearing last year’s team shirts until the last race in Austria.

Due to an obviously failed promotion campaign by main sponsor Philip Morris under the alias of Winnow, the old shirts including a breast zipper were finally no longer needed.

In any case, Vettel put on a good show this time around. Still answering the same repetitive questions without an attitude…

Why is it that Ferrari hasn’t won yet? Vettel: “We had too many ups and downs. But in Bahrain, Canada and Austria, we were close.”

What are the strengths of the car and where are the weaknesses? Vettel: “Basically, we are fast on the straights and lose in the corners, but we have gained new insights especially in France and Austria, which should help us.”

Does he still believe in the World Cup? Vettel: “I do not have time to deal with it, because I have a lot to do at the moment. Right now, I’m only thinking of one race at a time.

But it is clear that if we want to achieve a turnaround, we have to be consistently good and not have any weak spots.”

Was it right not to have punished Max Verstappen, although his team missed a possible victory? Vettel:” Yes because it was a decision for the sport. After all, this is not a kindergarten ground here.”

At least with one question, Vettel showed his full enthusiasm. Being asked whether he was pleased that the contract with Silverstone was extended by five years, the answer came right off the gun, accompanied with a big smile:

“Yes, because Silverstone is a tradition. It is the home of British motorsport. It’s one of the best tracks on the calendar and it’s always sold out. I’d much rather be here than at some other strange places where we might otherwise have gone.”

There he was again – typical Sebastian Vettel, the Formula 1 romantic who stands by his heart and soul.

*This article was first published in German at autobild.de/motorsport.